Luminato's splashy finale

'Luminat'eau: Carnival H{-2}O ' finds inspiration at the lake

The
Toronto arts festival - launched last year around the concept of light
- will wrap up its second run next weekend with "Luminat'eau: Carnival
H{-2}0," a three-day event with much ado about water.

Luminat'eau runs next Friday, Saturday and Sunday as part of the
sophomore festival's finale, and will feature installations, concerts
and more than 20 dance acts, each with water-inspired performances.

In keeping with the theme, Luminat'eau takes place at the
Harbourfront Centre, with a boat ferrying patrons east along the lake's
edge to the Distillery District. Toronto police will flaunt their
marine unit - which includes boats and helicopters - as part of the
children's exhibit, swimmingly titled "Eau La La Land."

There will be film screenings (including, naturally, Deepa Mehta's Water),
canoe rides and wakeboard demonstrations. And among the long list of
musicians will be Toronto's States of H{-2}Orchestra, a group of
musicians with instruments spouting, yes, water.

You get the idea.

"People can get that feeling of the water, even though a lot of the
programming is on land," says Sandra Whiting, project co-ordinator at
the Harbourfront Centre. "We have this wonderful resource, so we should
honour it."

The dancers, artists and musicians hope to "turn everyone's gaze
south" to the lake, organizer Melanie Fernandez says. "It's just a
different focus of celebration."

There will be more than a dozen performers at Harbourfront, with
styles and sounds from across the world, including Afro-Caribbean,
jazz, folk, bhangra, qawwali, calypso and children's music. Most events are free.

Steve Mann, the brain behind the H{-2}Orchestra, is a musician whose
work perfectly fits the theme. A University of Toronto engineering
professor and maverick inventor, Dr. Mann conceived the first parts of
his orchestra more than 20 years ago when he started experimenting with
dihydrogen monoxide (science speak for water). Today, his orchestra
builds unique melodies using water in four stages - ice, liquid, gas
and plasma, which Dr. Mann describes as the fourth state of matter (in
the case of water, plasma is a more energized form of steam vapour,
which leads to lightning and thunder). The orchestra's main feature,
the hydraulophone, spouts water through holes, which, when covered up,
play certain notes, like a big water-fountain flute.

Dr. Mann jumped at the chance to bring the instruments (which he
sells commercially) to Luminat'eau, where children and adults will also
be free to give them a try. "It's sculpture that allows the user to
become a participant in the art," he says.

Over in the Distillery District, where the lineup is more
earthbound, Luminato's final weekend will boast a long list of
performers, including Edmonton hip-hop starlet Kreesha Turner and
Toronto soul singer Divine Brown.

The Young Centre for the Performing Arts has brought in exclusively
local dancers and performers to give them exposure during Luminato,
which drew a million spectators overall last year.

The Distillery will also host "One City, One Table," Luminato's only
gourmet-street-food festival. Chefs from around Toronto, such as Jamie
Kennedy, will prepare a series of gourmet foods for under $5 during a
street party all Saturday afternoon.

"After all, restaurants are the ambassadors of the city, are they
not?" says Phil Sabatino, one of two men behind the food festival.

Organizers at the Distillery and Harbourfront, between which shuttle
buses will run, hope to build upon the success of last year's inaugural
festival, which lured twice as many guests as organizers had hoped for.

"It allows all the many Canadians to come and feel a part of the
city," Ms. Whiting says, touching again on the water theme. "We expect
Toronto to come down to the lake."

A New York-based emcee, Rekha mixes hip hop and bhangra,
bringing contemporary beats to the sounds of South Asia. She will host
a collaborative Basement Bhangra night to close out Friday at
Harbourfront, and is excited to play the festival crowd. "I never do
the same stuff twice," she says. "I just like to make people dance."

Iré Omó Afro-Cuban Drum and Dance Ensemble

The Toronto-based drum and dance group, founded in 2000, will
perform its tribute to Yemaya, the Goddess of the Sea, in one of two
shows next Sunday. Featuring five dancers and three drummers, the
performance will emulate the motion and spirit of the water in the
Afro-Cuban style for Luminat'eau's wide audience. "Everyone has their
own space here to be themselves, and to spread their culture in so many
different ways," says Sarita Leyva, 39, the group's Cuban-born founder,
who teaches in Toronto. "It's pretty nice."

Kaha:wi Dance Theatre

Kaha:wi Dance Theatre will stage a shortened version next Sunday afternoon of A Story Before Time,
a piece the company premiered last year. Using five dancers and a
storyteller, the piece tells a classic Iroquois creation story, and has
played across the country. "I wanted to share that story with kids,"
says choreographer Santee Smith, who is Mohawk. "Whatever background
people are from, they can take some universal meaning from it."